Alberta COVID-19 cases rise 61 to 419

Alberta saw another 61 cases of COVID-19 in the province in the last 24 hours, bringing the new provincial total to 419. The majority of cases (60%) are in the Calgary Zone.

In her daily update Wednesday, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said she believes 33 of the province’s cases may be community transmitted as opposed to being travel related. That is an increase of five.

Hinshaw said there are currently 20 Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19, eight of those in Intensive Care Units (ICU). That is an increase from the 18 hospitalized and seven in ICU reported yesterday. However, the province’s COVID-19 page indicates there are now 24 hospitalized.

There have been no additional deaths. A second death related to the illness, a woman in her 80s living in the McKenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre in Calgary, was reported Tuesday. The woman developed symptoms on March 22 and died on March 23. The first death was a man in his 60s in the Edmonton Zone who had preexisting conditions.

Hinshaw said the number of recovered cases is still being listed as three because Alberta Health is looking for a better administrative process to determine those who are fully recovered.

Local Numbers

Alberta Health’s geographical data for March 24 shows there are currently four cases of COVID-19 in Sturgeon County West, which includes Bon Accord and Morinville, as well as surrounding rural areas.

That number remains unchanged since Saturday, which saw a drop of one from Friday’s five.

Testing Numbers High

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Alberta is currently doing more testing per capita than other provinces and has now shifted away from testing travellers before Alberta has. To date, Alberta has tested 35,508 people.

On Monday, the province announced it was shifting testing priority to people who are hospitalized with respiratory illness, and residents of continuing care and other similar facilities. Additionally, people who returned from travelling abroad between March 8 and March 12 (before the self-isolation protocols were in place, and healthcare workers with respiratory symptoms. The latter testing is to begin later this week.

New measures and fines

Community Peace Officers, as well as police, have been given powers to enforce health act requirements. You can read the story here.